Cobaea scandens
species of plant
Cobaea scandens, the cup-and-saucer vine, cathedral bells, Mexican ivy, or monastery bells, is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family Polemoniaceae. It is native to Mexico, with isolated sightings elsewhere in tropical central and South America.
Description
It is a self-clinging perennial climber. The Latin specific epithet scandens means 'climbing'. The 10 cm (4 in) leaves comprise four leaflets and a tendril furnished with small hooks for clinging on to a support. The large forward-facing flowers open white, but become violet as they mature. They are pollinated by bats in their native habitat, are bell-shaped with a pronounced ruff – hence the name cup-and-saucer. Mature flowers are scented. Present a capsular fruits with seeds.
Cultivation
It is widely cultivated for its twining habit and its highly ornamental flowers, 5 cm (2 in) long, which change from white to purple.
“Cobaea scandens” enters the record as species of plant. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Cobaea, scandens and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Cobaea scandens” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Cobaea, scandens and species provides the most credible route into that argument.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q424385. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Cobaea scandens” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.